‘Love On The Inside’

‘Love On The Inside’

Sugarland (Mercury Nashville)

Grade: A

Sugarland captures the exuberant possibilities of life as well as any modern country act. On “Love On The Inside,” the third album for the duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, they once again tap into a joyful energy that’s as irresistible as it is catchy.

It doesn’t matter if the tune is about something as meaningless as lazily blowing off a work day (the album’s first hit, “All I Want To Do”), as common as the rush of falling in love (“We Run”) or as colorful as a working woman establishing that she may be poor and she may look rough, but she’s not easy to dismiss (“Take Me As I Am”).

Fortunately, Sugarland has repeatedly proven capable of more than lighthearted fun, especially on 2007’s award-winning ballad, “Stay.” It’s on the songs where the duo takes their biggest chances, and on the ballads where Nettles unveils what an emotional singer she can be, that the two confirm that they’re in it for the ages.

The stripped-down acoustic songs give Nettles the most room to show her talent, this time on the heartbreaking “Keep You” and the wise “Very Last Country Song.” The duo also show some nerve, and plenty of wit, on the goofy “Steve Earle,” about a woman pleading with the alternative singer-songwriter named in the title to fall for her long enough to write a great song about her.

It’s in the moments when the band stretches that this million-selling duo paves a platinum road toward a long, sweet future.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘Into the Sun’

Candlebox (Silent Majority/ILG Records)

Grade: B

Candlebox never found a true place among the pantheon of ’90s bands. Unfairly lumped in with the grunge crowd (maybe because they are from Seattle), they eventually vanished after being shunned for their hard blues and classic rock approach.

Ten years after their last release, Candlebox returns with three of its four founding members in tow on “Into the Sun.”

Fans of the band’s smash hits like “You” and “Far Behind” — which remain in heavy rotation on rock radio — are again likely to be enthralled with Kevin Martin’s soaring vocals and Peter Klett’s chugging riffs and melodic psychedelia-infused leads.

They show they mean business with aggressive riffs and thunderous drums on “Stand” and “How Does it Feel,” offer the funky rock of “ ... Brewin” and add a touch of trippy blues to “Surrendering” and the title track.

“Miss You” is a melodic rocker with a crisp acoustic touch, “A Kiss Before Dying” soars high on Martin’s wailing and disc closer “Consider Us” offers some surprising piano balladry.

Fans of ’90s rock are sure to dig “Into the Sun” for the fun stroll down memory lane that it is — unfortunately most everyone else probably won’t even notice.

— John Kosik, Associated Press

‘the breakout’

Miley Cyrus (Hollywood)

Grade: C+

The push to turn 15-year-old Miley Cyrus into an adult verges on ridiculous these days. She’s at that awkward age, where she’s part kid and part adult and not really sure she wants to act as either all the time — a problem magnified by her superstar status and the current drought of big new talent — and, generally, she handles it pretty well.

Her new album “Breakout” (Hollywood), however, captures her awkward in-betweenness and puts it on display. “Breakout” is supposed to be her debut as a “serious” artist, the album that shows she’s ready to match up with the adults. Truth is, she’s not.

The smash hit “7 Things” is a clumsy, but fun, mishmash of country jangle verses and pop-punk rave-up choruses, with vocals that are girlish, but trying to be more. Cyrus fares so much better on the bouncy title track and the peppy “Full Circle,” which are both closer to her “Hannah Montana” material, and the pretty country-tinged ballad “These Four Walls,” where she sounds far more accomplished.

The ambitions for “Breakout” also seem mixed. Cyrus’ take on Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” sounds like it was recorded just so they could do a video or a sitcom bit. The synth-laden, ’80s wanna-be “Fly on the Wall” sounds more like a cartoon theme song than something to be taken seriously.

For all the hype about Cyrus and her intentions for “Breakout” and her “adult” poses in Vanity Fair, the album really does seem to reflect who she is at this moment.

With all its advancements, “Breakout” may be the best tween-pop album ever to come from a 15-year-old TV-star-turned-singer. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. Lucky for Cyrus and her handlers, that won’t matter to all her die-hard fans.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

‘Skin Deep’

Buddy Guy (Silvertone/Zomba)

Grade: A

Blues may be an ageless music, but most players ease into old age with relaxed grace. Not Buddy Guy, who sounds as distinctively piercing on “Skin Deep” as on his classic ’60s Chess Records cuts or his early ’90s comeback albums.

At 72, Guy still cuts shards of razor-sharp glass from his Fender Stratocaster, and his voice remains an anquished cry. “Skin Deep” follows the modern formula for legendary figures by pairing the Chicago blues master with acolytes. In this case, he duets with Eric Clapton (on the groovin’ “Every Time I Sing The Blues”), steel guitar standout Robert Randolph (the swampy “Out In The Woods” and the hip-shaking “That’s My Home”), young guitar ace Derek Trucks (the sweetly soulful “Skin Deep”) and Trucks and his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi (the fierce “Too Many Tears”). This album marks the first time he has recorded all original tunes.

But the real inspiration for Guy seems to be the band assembled by producer and drummer Tom Hambridge. With rock veteran Willie Weeks on bass, Texas kingpin David Grissom on rhythm guitar and Stevie Ray Vaughan sideman Reese Wynans on keyboards, Hambridge’s core band gives Guy and his guests a deep, solid foundation. Guy responds by ripping inspired solos every chance he gets, fighting mortality with every ferocious note.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘The Rules of Hell’

Black Sabbath (Rhino)

Grade: C

These are words almost too blasphemous to type: Enough with the Black Sabbath reissues, already.

With “The Rules of Hell,” Rhino completes an exhaustive — and ultimately exhausting — reissue of Black Sabbath’s entire catalog that started with “Black Box.” That first box set covered the Ozzy Osbourne years from 1970-78. It was a mostly fantastic time for a band that unraveled in a bitter scrum of drug addiction, alcoholism and the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

Five-disc “The Rules of Hell” covers the overbaked Ronnie James Dio years, an exercise that wasn’t really necessary for posterity’s sake. By the time the band fired Osbourne, there wasn’t much of interest left musically and Dio mostly disappoints.

Though equally influential, Osbourne and Dio are as different as heavy metal singers can be. Osbourne’s crazed delivery and more topical and introspective subject matter define one pole of the genre, while Dio’s fantastical romps and mystical imagery are the tent stakes of the opposing camp.

Few favor both. You either love Ozzy or you worship Dio. The music of guitarist Tommy Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward’s eventual replacement Vinny Appice changes with each singer. Their work on “Heaven and Hell,” “The Mob Rules” and “Dehumanizer” is recognizable yet more complex and ponderous than the beautiful menace of those early classics “Paranoid” and “Master of Reality.”

— Chris Talbott, Associated Press